The meeting is scheduled at 2:30 p.m. and officials from
Hongkong International will attend as observers, the company
said in an e-mailed statement. About 450 workers have been
staying away from the world’s third-biggest container port since
March 28, demanding a 25 percent increase in wages and better
working conditions.

Shipping lines including Evergreen Marine Corp. Taiwan Ltd.
and Japan’s Mitsui OSK Lines Ltd. (9104) diverted vessels or skipped
calling at Hong Kong, as the strike caused delays. Hongkong
International Terminals was running at about 80 percent of usual
operating levels, the company said this week.

Li denied a Sing Tao report that said the billionaire
intervened in the talks and may increase wages by more than 5
percent, the port operator said in the statement. The workers
are employed by contractors and not directly by Hongkong
International Terminals.

Li’s Hutchison Whampoa Ltd. (13) is the largest shareholder in
Hutchison Port Holdings Trust. Hutchison Port controls more than
half of Hong Kong’s port capacity with its partner Cosco Pacific
Ltd. (1199) The trust’s terminals in Shenzhen also control 46 percent
of the market there.